Brick



F. W. BUTTERWORTH.

BRICK.

APPLICATION FILED MAR-1|. ISIS.

41,3535 1 5, Patented Sept, 21, 1920.

I WORTH, a citizen of the United States, resid-- UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK W. BUTTERWORTH, OF DANVILLE, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR T0 WESTERN BRICK 1 COMPANY, or DANVILLE, rumors,

A LIMITED COPARTNERSHIP.

BRICK.

Original application filed August 19, 1915, Serial No. 46,236, Divided and this application filed March 11, 1916. Serial No. 83,531. Y

To all whom z'tmay concern.

Be it known that I, FRANK W. BUTTER- ing at Danville, in the county of Vermilion, in the State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bricks, (this application being a division of my application for, Letters Patent filed by me on the 19th day of August, A. D. '1915,

Serial No. 46,236,) of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to bricks, and refers particularly to bricks the surfaces of'which have been treated in order to produce certain desired qualities, as will be explained more in detail hereafter. Q

It was formerly the custom to manufacture face bricks with 'a. smooth surface, these bricks ordinarily having been made by molding. Subsequently after the-introduction of the so-called stiff-mud process the bricks were manufactured by first extrudin a ribbon of clayv or the like through a ie and subsequently cutting this ribbon into suitable lengths so that the individual bricks were formed. As a further refinement on this process, different methods were used for roughening the surface of the bricks in order to give them a more attractive appearance. The simplest and earliest process for roughening bricks consisted in removingfrom the clay-ribbon after it left the die a thin layer of material, this operation being accomplished by means of a wire adjacent to the mouth of the die. The degree of roughening could be varied to a considerable extent by the size ofthe wire employed. In the use of this process the surface of the brick, while roughened, was left with cracks extending in a direction transverse to the clay-ribbon, and this surface was very unsightly in the finished product. Moreover, in order to give auniform appearance to a wall constructed with bricks of this nature it is necessary that each brick should be laid in a particular position in order to give the proper homogeneous effect to the wall as awhole. It will be evident that the necessity of laying all of the bricks in this way entails great additional labor and care on the part of a brick layer;

Other processes of roughening the surface of the brick have consisted in scoring the clay-ribbon by the use of pins or the like,

ment, such as rolling the surface of the rib- Specification of Letters Patent. P t t t 2 1 0: i

bon in order to partially flatten the material I loosened by the furrowing action. The disadvantage of this process is that the finished bricks contain on their surface in a more or less clearly defined way series of lines which are unsightly, and, moreover, the clay which has been fre-rolled, as it were, into the surface of the brick does not adhere firmly, with the result that the surface of the brick is very apt to crumble under varying weather conditions. I

It is one of the objects ofmy invention to construct bricks or similar articles which shall have a roughened surfacewwithout predominating lines extending in any direction,

while at the same time the light effect produced on the brick shall be soft and lightabsorbing rather than light-reflecting.

It is also one of the objects'of my invention to produce bricks which maybe laid in any position in a wall and in whatever position' they are laid will have the same appearance in so far as the effect of the light on the surface of the bricks is concerned.

Further objects of my invention consist in producing bricks of the desired characteristics above mentioned which will be inexpensive,'and which maybe readily produced in large quantities.

'Stated in general terms, my invention consists of a brick or other similar cerainic article having a roughened surface without predominating lines extending 1n any direction, and provided on its surface with a large number of minute indentations which assist in giving the brick the desired qualities. The brick is produced in connection with the ordinarystifi-mudprocess by. first preliminarily toughening the surface of the clay-ribbon, and then subjecting it to a :stippling action, the latter being preferably accomplished by means of brushes having resilient bristles of wire or the like thereon. By means of this stlppling action the preliminarily roughened surface of the brick is brought into the desired condition by which .all tracesof cracks or'lines are removed,while the minute indentations made by the brushes further assist in giving the desired appearance. On account of the fact that the resilient bristles are brought into contact with the surface of the brick, these bristles as they approach disengagement from the surface of the brick remove slight quantities of clay from the surface by a picking action as the bristles move from their bent to their normal positions.

The action of the wire bristles produces upon the roughened surface a great number of closely spaced, short line-like indentations 14 disposed in substantially parallel lines extending in one and the same direction whereby the appearance of the said surface is the same in whatever position the brick may be laid.

These and other advantages of my invention will be more readily understood by reference to the accompanying drawing, which shows a perspective of a brick made in accordance with the provisions of my invention.

This brick, represented as a whole by 10, has an upper surface 11 and a corresponding lower surface, not shown in the drawing, which are of the ordinary and usual characteristics found in wire-cut bricks. The face 12 and one or both of the heads 13 are provided with a large number of minute indentations 14, which, as previously described, are preferably formed by means of resilient wire brushes which are brought into contact with the surface of the clayribbon during the process of manufacture of the brick before the latter has been cut into the individual bricks. On account of the picking action of the brushes, as previously described, the outer ends of the minute indentations 1 1 are somewhat enlarged inasmuch as particles of clay have been removed from the surface of the brick.

A brick having a roughened surface of this character and provided with the minute indentations above described presents a soft, pleasing appearance, and gives very the same light effect in whatever position it is placed. v

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that detailed changes might be made in the brick which I have described without departing from the spirit or scope of my invention, as defined in the appended claims.

\Vhat I claim is:

1. A brick or the like having an entire surfaceprovided with closely spaced, short andnarrow indentations disposed in substantially parallel lines and all extending in one and the same direction, whereby the appearance of the said surface is the same in whatever, position the brick may be laid.

2. A brick or the like having an entire surface provided with closely spaced, short and narrow indentaticms disposed in substantially parallel lines and all extending longitudinally of the brick, whereby the appearance of the said surface is the same in whatever position the brick may be laid.

3. A brick or the like having a rough surface, the entire area of said rough surface being provided with spaced, short line-like indentations disposed in substantially parallel lines extending in. one and the same direction, whereby the appearance of the said surface is the same in whatever position the brick may be laid.

4. A brick or the like having a rough surface, the entire area of said rough surface being provided with spaced, short line-like indentations disposed in substantially parallel lines extending longitudirz .lly of the brick, whereby the appearance surface is the same in whatever position the brick may be laid.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 8th day of IVIarcln'i X. D. 1916.

FRANK W. BUTTERVORTH.

of the said- 

